Elly: Cowgirl Bride Read Online Free

seat.
    “Thanks,” he said, sounding as tired as he looked.
    So many questions begged to be voiced, but she didn’t know how to start a conversation about the torpedo that had slammed into their lives. But the silence pressed in on her more than the dread of what Jesse might say.
    “What made you hire Will?”
    She hadn’t expected that to be the question to come out of her mouth. But it wasn’t really a surprise when she considered how much she’d been thinking about him earlier, how curious she was about where he’d been, what he’d done since he’d left Markton. And why he was back in the area.
    Jesse sighed. “I told you. I need to see how this could affect all of us and the ranch if it’s true and it comes to light.”
    Elly shook her head. “No, I know that. I meant, why Will instead of another lawyer? He must only barely be out of law school.”
    “He was familiar with the ranch, with our family. Had always seemed like a friend.”
    “And it didn’t bother you that you were revealing this ugly secret to someone who knows us?”
    Jesse set down the fork he’d just picked up. “Of course, it did. But it was better than the idea of laying it all out for some outsider.” He tapped the tines of the fork against the edge of the saucer. “And Dad might have admitted to the affair, but I want proof of Mark’s paternity before I believe it.”
    “If Mark were to make such a claim, why would he lie about it?”
    “I don’t know. Money maybe.”
    Elly stared at Jesse, wondering where the bitter person in front of her had come from. “You’ve known Mark your entire life. I know you have some sort of stupid testosterone rivalry thing dating back to before either of you had to shave, but the idea of him lying to get his hands on our money is just ludicrous. And you know it.”
    Jesse shoved the cake away. “I don’t know what to think. Do you?”
    She let out a breath before shaking her head. “No.”
    She glanced around the kitchen where she and her brothers had grown up. “God, how are we supposed to act around Mom and Dad?”
    “Like we always do.”
    “I don’t think that’s possible.”
    “It has to be, at least until they say something to you or I figure out what this all means for us.”
    How was she going to look at her mother without pity in her eyes? At her dad without anger and resentment?
    “Elly?”
    “Fine.”
    Elly stared at Jesse. “Do you think Mark even knows?”
    Jesse shook his head a couple of times. “Don’t know. One of the things we’ll need to find out if it turns out to be true.”
    With an exhale that spoke of a fatigue for the ages, Jesse rose from the table and headed for his room. Elly didn’t attempt to stop him or pull him deeper into conversation. She doubted he could shed light on her foremost question anyway—why would her father cheat on her mother when they’d had a long, happy marriage since? At least she’d always thought they had.
    Elly grabbed the abandoned slice of cake and shoved a giant bite in her mouth. Her mother baked when she was upset, and Elly consumed the results when she found herself in a similar state. She had to force herself not to bite down too hard on the fork when a second bite followed the first in a vain effort to make her feel better.
    If the situation wasn’t resolved soon, she was going to end up the size of Wyoming.
     

    W ILL REVIEWED THE NOTES he’d made about the Cody case then sat back in his office chair. How ironic that one of his first cases after moving back to the area involved Elly’s family. He closed his eyes and thought back to the moment he’d seen her the day before, more beautiful than even his vivid memories had prepared him for. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind since their gazes had connected.
    But being with her was no more realistic now than when he’d been a geeky, allergy-ridden teen. Only this time it was his work that stood in the way—not the fact that she wouldn’t look at